{"id":284,"date":"2018-04-07T15:30:55","date_gmt":"2018-04-07T15:30:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/edictbackup.home.blog\/2018\/04\/07\/fake-lies-privilege\/"},"modified":"2019-03-17T13:51:57","modified_gmt":"2019-03-17T13:51:57","slug":"fake-lies-privilege","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/edictarchive.the-edict.in\/index.php\/2018\/04\/07\/fake-lies-privilege\/","title":{"rendered":"Fake Lies | Privilege"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rohan Parikh (Junior Correspondent at Free Press Pvt. Ltd.)<\/em><\/p>\n

Fake Lies is a satire and humor series about Ashokan life and culture (or lack thereof).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

With the academic year coming to an end and recruitment for the new batch underway, once again Hoshak University finds itself standing at a fork in the road. The question of diversity in the student population looms large, and unlike the solitary traveler, Hoshak\u2019s love for privatized, untrodden roads will only spell trouble.<\/p>\n

The Administration has always been averse to the idea of \u2018mingling with the hordes\u2019. It is as opposed to acknowledging the C-word as it is to things like fee-stabilization, appropriate resource allocation, and holidays for national Indian festivals.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe cannot compromise on the quality of students coming in,\u201d said an Administration official in response to questions about the lack of diversity among the student population. We asked him what he meant by \u2018quality\u2019, to which he shrugged and said, \u201cYou know what I mean.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Administration\u2019s stance is simple. According to them, it takes an English-medium education, tuitions for every subject over and above schooling, a resume proclaiming a history of internships, conferences, and competitions attended and won, and twenty-one lakh rupees to make it to Hoshak. Objective merit, in other words, is what counts.<\/p>\n

Moreover, research has concluded that meritorious people love coffee. Thus, Hoshak conducts outreach programs in places where prospective students can sip their beverage warm or cold, whipped or blended, iced or non-iced, with cake or without, while hearing about Hoshak\u2019s incredible student body from various backgrounds that runs wide, but never deep.<\/p>\n

Despite the Administration\u2019s indifference, the problem of the lack of inclusivity is all-too-evident, and over the years Hoshakans have attempted to tackle the problem.<\/p>\n

A second-year undergraduate student attempted to grapple with the problem. \u201cLike, yeah, inclusivity is a real problem, man. You know, we gotta represent.\u201d Upon asking him to elaborate, after some hesitation, he continued, \u201cYeah, like, this is not cool, you know. Like, inclusivity, and representation, and\u2026 yeah, it\u2019s important. We need more oppressed people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most times, however, Hoshakans are articulate about their views and do not hesitate to voice them. Yet, often they fail to realize the fundamental contradiction between what they say and who they are.<\/p>\n

Almost every night one can find a group of students sitting at The Humble Capitalist (THC)<\/em> having heated discussions about inequality and privilege while munching on pizzas and pancakes. The most outlandish claims are argued for, and like good philosophers, they do not feel the need for practical experience. Theory suffices, always. Moreover, we found that such conversations become more fruitful when Hoshakans are drunk. Thursday nights, therefore, are when all of society\u2019s problems are solved, once and for all.<\/p>\n

As the problem of privilege becomes increasingly popular, the student body is coming to realize the great social capital it carries. Inclusivity has become the new feminism; understood by a few, but harped upon by all.<\/p>\n

Now, instead of flaunting their wealth, Hoshakans are turning away from such vulgar displays of affluence. The \u2018cultural intellectual\u2019 is the new fashion statement on campus. An increasing number of people now tend to speak in broken Hindi, grow out their hair, wear round spectacles and kurtas, and carry satchels. Of course, when a MacBook emerges from the satchel, the image is broken.<\/p>\n

The Student Government, keen on wanting to remain relevant in the eyes of the student body unfailingly raises a deafening call for inclusivity every election cycle. However, it seems not to be very concerned about how \u2018real\u2019 inclusivity is actually brought about, so long as empty words and phrases like \u2018inclusion\u2019, \u2018lack of inclusion\u2019, \u2018#inclusivity\u2019, \u2018inclusivity ministry\u2019 etc. are thrown around.<\/p>\n

It has been noticed that an increasing number of people are taking an interest in the neighboring village of Hansawarpur. Learning about the life of \u2018those people\u2019 has almost become an obsession.<\/p>\n

\n

Illustration by Ketaki Mathur, Class of\u00a02020<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI\u2019m like, so excited,\u201d quipped a first-year undergraduate, \u201cmy friends and I are going to the village. I\u2019ve packed granola bars, mosquito repellent, and glucose water. We\u2019re gonna, like, go there and take pictures, collect samples, and record observations in our log books. People say there are, like, wild animals out there. I haven\u2019t told my parents, though. I don\u2019t want them to be worried.\u201d<\/p>\n

The student is keen on writing a first-person story about the hardships of poverty for her creative-writing course.<\/p>\n

\u201cHoshakans have the roar of a lion and the memory of a goldfish,\u201d said an MLS student, \u201cWe raise a racket, but soon enough forget the reason for doing so. But we continue ranting nonetheless.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Free Press has realized that the hypocrite wears a mask not only to fool others but also oneself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rohan Parikh (Junior Correspondent at Free Press Pvt. Ltd.) Fake Lies is a satire and humor series about Ashokan life and culture (or lack thereof). With the academic year coming to an end and recruitment for the new batch underway, once again Hoshak University finds itself standing at a fork in the road. The question…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[30,56,174,194],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/edictarchive.the-edict.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/edictarchive.the-edict.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/edictarchive.the-edict.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/edictarchive.the-edict.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/edictarchive.the-edict.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=284"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/edictarchive.the-edict.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1485,"href":"http:\/\/edictarchive.the-edict.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284\/revisions\/1485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/edictarchive.the-edict.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/edictarchive.the-edict.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/edictarchive.the-edict.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}